Field of the Invention
One or more embodiments setting forth the ideas described throughout this disclosure pertain to the field of mounts as utilized in sporting equipment for electronics and visual markers. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more aspects of the disclosure enable a method of coupling a motion sensor to a piece of equipment for example to accurately position and orient the motion sensor as well as account for manufacturing variations through calibration to provide a highly accurate motion sensor wherever and however mounted to the piece of equipment.
Description of the Related Art
Known systems for mounting electronics on sporting equipment include mounts in the shafts of fishing poles, and golf clubs for example. Existing mounts have the following limitations:                Existing mounts for sporting equipment electronics require alteration of an existing piece of sporting equipment before attaching the mount and hence electronics. For example, known mounts require modification of the shaft of the piece of equipment to include threads.        Some mounts extend longitudinally away from the normal ending point of the shaft for a distance that is far enough to interfere with or provide a confusing point at which to grasp the club.        Other mounts combine the electronics on the mount itself in a monolithic package that does not allow for the weight of the club to remain constant with or without electronics installed. For example, in sports with rules against instrumented sporting equipment, the weight of an instrumented piece of sporting equipment differs from the weight of the same non-instrumented piece of sporting equipment that complies with competition rules.        There are no known systems that include electronics within the shaft of a piece of sporting equipment that are also utilized to provide a visual marker for motion capture. Traditionally, mounts have been used for electronics or visual markers, but not both.        Existing enclosures and mounts may break or shatter if they experience an impact shock. Upon impact, fragments of the mount, or of the enclosed electronics, may fly away from the enclosure and/or mount towards a user or spectator, posing a safety hazard.        Existing enclosures and mounts do not provide shock absorption or shock isolation. The enclosed electronics may therefore experience very large shock forces, destroying them or corrupting sensor measurements.        Existing enclosures and mounts provide limited or no water resistance.        Existing mounts include manufacturing variations in the position and orientation of the mount on the piece of equipment. This creates errors in motion sensor data unless accounted for through either precise determination of mounting position and orientation and/or calibration of the motion sensor or both.        
Specifically, sensor data from sensors attached to or integrated into equipment is affected by the position, i.e., location, and orientation of the sensors with respect to the equipment. Accurate and useful analysis of motion may require knowledge of this location and orientation. Existing processes for mounting sensors on equipment do not include physical mounting constraints and calibration steps that provide accurate sensor location and orientation information. This uncertainty in precise sensor location and orientation is particularly problematic for sports such as golf, baseball, tennis or any other sport, where motions can be very rapid and metrics calculated from sensor data may be very sensitive to small changes in estimated sensor location and orientation. For at least the limitations described above there is a need for method of coupling a motion sensor to a piece of equipment.